Yet Again, Tea Party Inaccurately Called "Racist"

Recently, Rep. Andre Carson (D) stated that the Tea Party wants to see black Americans “hanging on a tree.” He also stated that the Tea Party’s efforts are similar to that of the “Jim Crow” era. Now, if you are one of those people who believes everything the mainstream media says, and do not do any research on your own, then this statement would seem accurate. After all, the media and some of governmental leaders have spoken negatively and lied about the Tea Party on many occasions. The Tea Party has been referred to as “terrorists” even by our Vice President. However, the Tea Party simply wants America to return to the positiveaspects of our country when it was founded, such as smaller government, freedom, not being anti-God, less taxes, etc. There is nothing to do with the Tea Party that suggests that they would like to return to slavery, segregation, or discrimination.

About a year ago, there were 2 black journalists who went to a Tea Party rally, specifically to see how accurate the media’s statements were. Both came back with an experience that was completely opposite of what they had been told. The rally attendants were not racist, violent, extremist, or anything resembling the descriptions from the media or governmental leaders. They realized that what the party was all about was returning to our roots of freedom and small government, not racism.

If you’re reading this, you are likely someone who already knows this though. You either are part of the Tea Party, are at least on the conservative side, or one of the few people on the liberal side who actually like to research things, not just listen to the media. The problem is that we do have some people on the conservative side who are racist, and the left uses that to try to portray those people as typical conservatives. Anyone who is not in support of Barack Obama, or just does not consider themselves a Democrat is labeled a “racist.” Even Glenn Beck, who, as much as liberals will never admit it, supports his arguments with facts, and will go against people on both sides, is considered a racist. In a song recently released by rapper Lupe Fiasco, he says “Limbaugh is a racist, Glenn Beck is a racist.” Although I agree with a lot of what Rush Limbaugh says, when taken out of context, some of the things he says can sound racist. But the only “racist’ thing Glenn Beck has said is that he does not support Obama. That is all. But for Democrats, that is enough.

It’s funny that they will get angry at people who say that Muslims are terrorists or hate America, based on the actions of those on September 11th, and Al-Qaida, and other supporters of them, and say that those people are stereotyping a group of people based on the actions of a few. Yet, they will stereotype all Christians, saying that they all have a violent hatred towards homosexuals because some improperly present Scripture in a way that suggests the violent hatred. In actuality, a large majority of Christians disagree with what those people are doing, and love homosexuals the same way they love all people. And, as stated, they will take the actions of a very small percentage of conservatives, and explicitly state that all Republicans are racist. They attack the people with inaccuracies rather than present legitimate arguments against the issues.

We can’t really change how the media or the opposing side chooses to argue against us. What we can do, is always make sure we are clear with our stances, and show that our stance is based on what this country was actually founded upon, and what works best for America. We cannot leave any room for someone to argue that Republicans have a specific belief based on any type of prejudice. We can just hope and pray for both ourselves and the opposing party, that we present our views clearly and that those views are understood and accepted respectfully, even if the other person does not agree with them. Otherwise, we will continue to hear ignorant statements from people such as Rep. Carson who resort to misleading people to the wrong impressions of the opposing side, rather than arguing in a respectable way that focuses on the opinion instead of those that have them.

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Benjamin Nelson recently earned his B.A. in History from the University of Connecticut. He has spent much of his free time researching topics related to morality and ethics, and his areas of greatest interest are abortion and evolution. Contact Ben at examinerbennelson@yahoo.com.